Playing card distributor



2 Sheets-SheEi; 1

Filed Feb. 5, 1954 INVENTOR. Cur-1cm: P. Swen-uses:

Och 1956 c. P. SIVERTSON 2,766,989

PLAYING CARD DISTRIBUTOR Filed Feb. 5, 1954 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Fig.4 6o 52 INVENTOR. CLIFFORD F? swam-son fmm AT TO RN EYS the spring arms 44 to enable the false bottom 36 to move away from the top 18 and facilitate the introduction into, or extraction from the chamber M of a stack of cards. Obviously, by moving the lever arm 34 against the effort of the spring arms 44, the cards in a stack of cards containedin the chamber may be so freed that by gripping the cards adjacent opposite sides through the openings 30 in the back and front walls14 and 16, respectively, a shufiiing of the cards may be accomplished.

1 In use, the pistol grip 62 is'held in the hand with the thumb on the thumb piece 86 to move the lever arm 34 against the effort of the spring arms 44 to permit the false bottom 36 to move away from the top 18. With the parts in this position, a stack of cards is introduced into the magazine and upon releasing the pressure on the thumb piece 86, the stack of cards will be moved under the influence of the spring arms 44 toyieldingly advance the stack of cards toward the top 18. With the cards shuflied and the stack elevated into contact with the top wall 18, pressure is exerted on the trigger 72 to move it against the eifort of the spring 80 and cause the lever 66 and arm 68 through the medium of the link 70 to advance the carriage 54 toward the slot 22 in the front wall 16 of the magazine M. As the carriage starts to move, the ejector 58 will engage the topmost card in the stack of cards and advance it through the slot 22. By repeating the operation, the cards may be ejected from the stack of cards S and distributed one at a time on a table before a group of players distributed therearound. Obviously, in this manner uniform distribution of the cards is accomplished with but a minimum of efiort on the part of the dealer.

While in the foregoing there has been shown and described the preferred embodiment of this invention, it is to be understood that minor changes in the details of construction, combination and arrangement of parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as claimed.

What is claimed is:

A V 1. A card distributor comprising a magazine for a stack 7 of cards including a top wall, a bottom wall, a back wall, and a front wall having an elongated discharge slot extending in a plane closely spaced from and paralleling the top wall, through which slot the topmost card of the stack may be ejected; means in the magazine for urging the stack toward the top wall, for positioning the topmost card in said plane; a pistol grip handle rigid with and depending from the magazine substantially at the juncture between the back and bottom walls, said handle being of channel shaped cross section at least at the upper end thereof, said upper end of the handle opening upwardly rearwardly of the back wall of the magazine, the handle also opening forwardly below the bottom wall; a lever having one end portion extending through the open upper end of the handle, said end portion of the lever being pivotally connected to the handle, the lever extending upwardly from the handle rearwardly of the back wall of the magazine and swinging about the axis of its pivotal connection to the handle in a plane normal tothe plane of said slot; an ejector element slidably mounted in the top wall and including a lug projecting downwardly therefrom in said plane of the slot; a link pivotally connected between said'element and the upper end of the lever, said lever swinging about the axis of its pivotal connection to the handle between opposite extreme positions, in one of which the lug is flush with the back wall to engage against a back-wall-engaging edge of the topmost card and in the other of which the lug is flush with the front wall to shift the topmost card through the slot forwardly out of the magazine, for freefall of the ejected card, from the magazine, said handle including side flanges projecting forwardly from the side walls of the handle and secured to the bottom wall of the magazine to form, in"

cooperation with said bottom wall, a guideway opening at one end into the handle adjacent the lower end portion of the lever; and a trigger slidably mounted at one end in said guideway and pivotally connected at its other end to shift the leverto said other extreme position thereof;

2. A card distributor comprising a magazine for a stack of cards including a top wall, a bottom wall, a back wall,

and a front wall having an elongated discharge slot extending in a plane closely spaced from and paralleling the top wall, through which slot the topmost card of the stack may be ejected; means in the magazine for urging the stack toward the top wall, for positioning the topmost card in said plane; a pistol grip handle rigid with and depending from the magazine substantially at the juncture upwardly from the handle rearwardly of the back wall of the magazine and swinging about the axis of its pivotal connection tothe handle in a plane normal to the plane of said slot; an ejector element slidably mounted in the top wall and including a lug projecting downwardly therefrom in said plane of the slot; a link pivotally connected between said element and the upper end of the lever, said lever swinging about the axis of its pivotal connection to the handle between opposite extreme positions, in one of which the lug is flush with the back wall to engage against a back-wall-engaging edge of the topmost card and in the other of which the lug is flush-with the front wall to shift the topmost card through the slot forwardly out of the magazine, for free fall of the ejected card from the magazine, said handle including side flanges projecting forwardly from the side walls of the handle and secured to the bottom wall of the magazine to form,

in cooperation with said bottom wall, a guideway opening at one end into the handle adjacent the lower end portion of the lever; and a trigger slidably mounted at one end in said guideway and pivotally connected at its other end to said lower end portion of the lever, said trigger moving into the forwardly opening handle responsive to pressure exerted against the trigger by the finger of a hand gripping the handle, the connection of the trigger to the lever being disposed below the axis about which the lever pivots on the handle, whereby on movement of the trigger into the handle said trigger will'rock the lever in a-direction to swing the upper end thereof toward the magazine, to shift the lever to said other extreme position thereof, said trigger having a resilient, yielding connection to said bottom wall of the magazine tensioned to oppose movement of the trigger into the handle.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,075,132 Westensee Oct. 7, 1913 1,366,264 Kolomyjec Ian. .18, 1921 1,436,635 Aronson Nov. 28, 1922 r 1,737,696 Allen Dec, '3, 1929 Ring May 16, 1933 

